Sound Timeline

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FILM 134A TIMELINE FOR THE TRANSITION TO SOUND FILM 1924 First viable sound film technology available is a sound-on-disk system, Vitaphone, developed by Western Electric (a subsidiary of AT&T); derived from the companyʼs experiments with sound amplification in long-distance telephones Vitaphone system rejected by all major Hollywood studios 1925 The small studio Warner Bros. receives a $3 million line of credit and begins an expansion designed to compete with major studios Warner Bros. acquires smaller studio and chain of theaters 1926 April: Warner Bros. and Western Electric co-found Vitaphone Corporation to make sound films and market sound equipment August: premiere of Warner Bros.ʼ Don Juan, the first feature with synchronized recorded musical accompaniment using a Vitaphone sound-on-disk system Fox Film (another smaller studio) acquires the Movietone sound-on-film system and begins producing sound newsreels Warner Bros. installs over 100 sound systems in theaters 1927 February: major Hollywood studios sign “Big Five Agreement,” pledging to act together to adopt whichever sound system proved most advantageous October: premiere of The Jazz Singer, the first feature to include synchronized record music and some dialogue using a Vitaphone sound-on-disk system 1928 Summer: first “all-talkie” is released, The Lights of New York Western Electric offers a sound-on-film system with sound and image recorded separately (unlike the Movietone system) Major studios begin equipping their theaters and production facilities for sound under contract with Western Electric Three-quarters of US-made films are released with some form of pre-recorded soundtrack 1930 All US films are released with recorded dialogue, sound effects and music on the soundtrack Warner Bros.ʼ assets increase from $5 million in 1925 to $230 million Average production costs rise from $80,000 per film before sound to $375,000 per film with sound .

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The Human Voice and the Silent Cinema. PUB DATE Apr 75 NOTE 23P.; Paper Presented at the Society Tor Cinema Studies Conference (New York City, April 1975)
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